Feb 17, 2017

Congressman calls for investigation as Trump refuses to give up his Android phone

Ina Fried

Despite universal warnings from security experts in and out of government, Donald Trump is apparently continuing to use an insecure, off-the-shelf Android phone. Now Ted Lieu is calling on his fellow Congressman to investigate.

In a letter on Friday, the Los Angeles-area Democrat said that if the President wants to do something about cybersecurity, he should start with his own phone, reportedly an Samsung ancient Galaxy S3. Lieu raises other security concerns in the letter, too, calling for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to look into the issue.

This behavior is more than bad operational security—it is an egregious affront to national security.

Why this might not be a big deal: Though there are many, many security issues related to the president using a standard phone, it's unlikely Republicans will take up this issue.

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Coronavirus dashboard

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 8 a.m. ET: 679,977 — Total deaths: 31,734 — Total recoveries: 145,625.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 8 a.m. ET: 124,686 — Total deaths: 2,191 — Total recoveries: 2,612.
  3. Federal government latest: Trump announces new travel advisories for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, but rules out quarantine enforcement. Per CDC, those residents should "refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days," with the exception of critical infrastructure industry workers.
  4. State updates: Alaska issues a stay-at-home order — New York tries to nearly triple hospital capacity in less than a month and moved presidential primary to June 23. Some Midwestern swing voters who backed Trump's initial handling of the virus balk at call for U.S. to be "opened up" by Easter.
  5. World updates: In Spain, over 1,400 people were confirmed dead between Thursday to Saturday.
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